A few days ago, my husband and I went to the Donkey Sanctuary in Manchester. I shared a few pictures on Instagram. The Donkey Sanctuary is a charity that houses rescued donkeys. They have a few sanctuaries around UK, like Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and a few others. There are a few sanctuaries outside UK too, in Spain, Ireland, and Italy.
The entry is free, but they do accept donations. They also accept treats for the donkeys, but the staff and volunteers are the ones giving the treats. It’s just a matter of health and safety, so the donkeys don’t bite the visitors in their eagerness to get the carrot.
Besides having these amazing animals and taking good care of them, the sanctuary does other things too. One of those things is donkey assisted therapy for children. I think is wonderful and I’m sure the children are benefiting a lot from this. There are some stories on their website, so you can have a look if you are interested.
The staff at the sanctuary is great, friendly and so helpful. We had a lovely time and I would want to visit the centre again.
The donkeys have lots of toys and other things for enrichment. They have a mirror, wellies stuffed with treats, balls, a back-scratcher (like a huge brush). They also need a blanket as they get cold. My husband asked and the lady said their hair looks fluffed up and they keep their tails between their legs if they are cold.
I bought 3kg of carrots and I thought maybe I should have bought more. My husband made fun because last time I was alone with a horse, I fed him almost 1kg of carrots/apples daily. I asked before and the owner said I could give him treats, but I might have exaggerated a bit. Anyway, the staff knows better how many carrots a donkey should have. I will ask next time, out of curiosity.
In Manchester, the sanctuary is at Green Fold, Manchester, M18 8RJ. There is free car park. The Donkey Sanctuary is open for the public most weekdays: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 3pm to 5pm. In the weekends, the sanctuary is open from 10am to 3pm.
I’ve never been to the Manchester Donkey Sanctuary, but we love the Leeds one! We have ‘adopted’ a donkey there and the kids like to go see him. They do great work for these lovely animals! x